Portable structure



ct. 28, 1941. A, EBENHACK 2,260,369

PORTABLE STRUCTURE Filed Nov. 191,'1940 5 sheets-sheet 1 INVENTOR Oct. 28, 1941. A. EBENHACK 2,260,369

PORTABLE STRUCTURE Filed Nov. 19, 1940 3 sheets-sheet 2 ATTORNE Oct. 28, 1941. A. EBENHACK 2,260,369

PORTABLE S TRUCTURE INVENTOR ,M ATTORNEY Patented Oct. 28, 1941 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE VPon'mBLn STRUCTURE Arthur Ehehhack, Chillicothe, ohio Application November 19, 1940, SerialNo. 366,211

(o1. 18e- 2) i 11 Claims.

my invention that portable structures be madeV in a knocked-down condition so that they may be readily transported, assembled at the site and erected. My construction, however, is superior to these prior structures in that the same is composed of a novel arrangement of rstruc?v tural sections, braces, etc. hinged together in such a manner that the structure can be lcollapsed in assembled form to facilitate transporting from place to place, and when the new 'site has been reached the equipment is simply raised or expanded into erected position in the one operation. This'it will be appreciated, does away with knocking down the. structure when moving from one site to another .and with the necessity of reassembling when thefnewsite has'lbeen.

reached.

In the accompanying drawings wherein I' have illustrated an embodimentlof my invention2` Fig. 1 is a side elevational view of myfimproved apparatus; i v

Fig. 2'is a plan view; Fig. 3 is a view taken on the line 3`v3 of Fig. l; Figs. 4, 5 and `6 are elevational views showing my equipment being lowered into completely col--k lapsed position ready for transport;"

Figs. YrI, 8 and 9. are views taken on the `lines 1-1, 8-8 and 9 9, respectively, of'Fig. 1; and

Fig. 10 is a plan view somewhat diagrammatic showing my equipment on railway ilat cars.

It is to be understood that my apparatus comprises any number ofunits, each being a duplicate of the other, and that each unit'may be transported on its own vehicle such as a trailer, for instance, or railway flat car. On the other hand, a number of these units may be shipped or transported in the one vehicle.

I find it convenient in some instances so to arrange my apparatus that the vehicle lsuch as a trailer by which the apparatus is transported from site to site remains in place afterl the units have been erected. However, this is not always necessary or desirable. equipment on railway iiat cars, Afor instance, after the units have been erected then the flat cars When transporting myy unit is transported in a railway car then the same can be .unloaded at suitable loading platforms and erected without the railway carconstituting any part ofthe equipment at all.

Itwill be seen from Fig.l, for instance, of the drawings that. each-one of my units comprises a pair of lsteel latticework towers 2 which will stand vertically and rest upon the ground or other, support when the` apparatus is erected. As .above noted, Fig. 1 shows one of my units inverected position andit will be-seen from this ligure that the base of the towers 2 rests uponv the ground. Y

(Still, referring to Fig. 1 of the drawings, Jmy

, units may be collapsed without the necessity'of disassembling so as to be transported on vehicles. 4', such as a trailer, iorinstance. VariousA devicesl may be employed for erecting the equipment after the `sarn'e Yhas been'ftransported to its new site or location, andinthe drawings of the presentapplication I have shown by way of eX- ample jack screws 6 for this purpose,.these jack 'screws' passingthrough crosspieces 8 of the tow-- ers 2'.,4 There are two of" these jack screws. one at each end ofthe vehicle 4. As will be pointed outy shortly, ,operation of these jack screws .will

raise or lower'the 4towersf2to` vertical or hori-4 zontal position, the roof supporting beams carried bythe towers being moved accordingly at: I might point out also thatiri the same time. erecting .the towers, that is, moving the same to vertical position, the towers will be unloadedfrom the vehicle ,carrying the equipment to a position where the footr of each tower rests upon the ground.

The towers are pivoted to the vehicles 4 at Illand it will beA quite obvious from Figs. 1 and 4for'instance, of the drawings, thatwhen the jack screws 6 are operated the towers` will be raised "from the horizontal. position of Fig. 6, for instance, to the vertical position of Fig. 1, moving Aabout-the pivots or fulcrums I0. l

`Each of the towers 2 carries -cantilevers I2 pivoted. to the towersas .at` I4, the ,outer end of eachof these levers being pivotally connected to roof supporting members or roof supporting may be removed. Likewise, if more than one beams. I6. `These beams I6 are of steel, for example, andy of skeleton construction suitably-` braced for strength. This reduces weight `but at the Sametime provides a suiliciently strong beam for supporting the roof. of these beams to each unit, a beam being attached -to each of the towers 2. Pivotally attached to the towers 2 and to the beams`l6 are control levers I8. "Thesen control levers are There are two 'tfoj bring thesepgirders intovthe' position'shown shown pivoted to the towers and to the beams I6 at 20.

From the description thus far given it will be seen that by proper application of power to the towers 2 and with proper connection between 5 the towers 2 and the roof supporting beam I6 the entire equipment may be moved from the horizontal position shown in Fig. 6 to the position shown in Fig. 1. As above explained, the motive power for raising and lowering the equip,- ment, that is,Y expanding and collapsing the equipment, is applied through the jack screws 6, as illustrated in the drawings, these jackf screws being either manually or motor.l operated..Iv It is to be distinctly understood, howeverfthat" 5 the jack screws are shown merely.vbyiwaydfl.'

example and that any other .isuitable .mechl nism may be employed in "their "stead "frwthis' In other words, my invention I compre.'

purpose. hends the afxing of roof supporting membersto the towers 2 in such aomanner thatthe roo'f sup'' portingmembers willrest in the same plane with the towerswhen the equipment isicollapsed rand when' the towers have beenraisedfromfhorizontal to vertical position the'roof supportingmembers willbe` disposed in horizontal position aty the top ofthe towers by whichthey are` supported'. I have'v illustrated Vthe roof supporting members and,` the' i towers as nesting when'the'equipment is "coli lapsed, `It is to be understoodvv that it iswithinl the comprehension of 'my invention: to have these variousi'nembers lie one upon the other,' ifvjdeo-o'"` the'same"to"each otherj'so"that` they may" be'r Y folded back yupon the 'girders 'i6 when'the equip-j' `mentis collapsed. 'I "tl'lir'ili' it plain ,that when thev equipment is Vfullyjerec'zfted'foiyeiipahdedfas Y innig-*1, the provision' of the extensie'il,s2zpiace]A tically, as illustrated in: the drawing length ofthe girdersor bearris lj6. j o During the expanding l0fv the'jstructure 'l ,Y s to say, during Vthe raising o f thejstructure Sironi' horizontal position to erected 'oreXpanded posi-'' bles., the

tion, the towers v2 are rotated about 'the' fulerurfns I0 as previously explaineduntil the adj'aeent ends of thebeams I6 overlap at' 2g4u`whereupolnfa' pin ,g y is: inserted throughjthe overlapped ends ,of wthel i beams at this point sothat, as will be quitel'apparl,

ent from Fig. 4 of tlfiejdrawingsffurther ymovementof the towers- 2 about their lreslzp'ectiveI full.

crums toward vertical ,positionY will throughfthe cantilevers l2 and thecontrol levers'l eiiect aL swing of the beams l'L6 .downwardly emdout- Wardly so far kasftl'ieirjinner ends arefvconcerned each of theiroofwsupporting, girders I6, iinally;

in Fig. 1 with the towers "2 in vertical position.,

It willbe junderstood thatthe samejeifect canb'eq produced by` pinning? the Voverlappingj ends" woff the beams litose'herst .2.6yiI1Siead f at Mas y. described.

This', fhowever, ""is" merely by," way 'of v positionca rryin andv an upward movement `of then rear end of` 5 gravity so that when the towers 2 have reached vertical position the members 22 will be fully extended. Suitable means can be provided at the inner ends of the extensions 22 to limit their outward movement.

It will be appreciated that many different types of connections may be provided between the extensions 22 and the beams I6 to permit a sliding movement of one with respect to the other, if this is `the arrangement td be er'nployed.` I have simply illustrated a channel for the side members 28 of the'beams or girders I6 and the webs 30 K Lo'f the extensions 22 slide in these channels.

Transverse girders I6 may be provided between 'and' beyond the towers as shown in Fig. 3. These L'girders'may be in the form of channels and se- ,v .cured to the towers inany suitable manner.

"It will'be seen from the drawings that all of my equipment is in skeleton form for reducing the weight ofthe .equipment but properly braced j In the use ofdmy' equipment itwi'll belunder-i stoodjthatjthe "unit of 1"is' used in pairsfas illustrated'in Fig.' 3,- foriinstance; which is' a view talgenj at right' angles"to"Fig.`j 1v. I-Iere I 'have shown a'pair of the lunits Vof. llilg.' '1 disposed side" by'V sid'e'jsor as to, provide aspajce 'between the', towers 2'V of fone Yunit l'and the v"towers 2 of an' I adjoining junit, Y x'vvhicln spa'cej ."isusablej `for` example, asa storagefspa'ceffor ank airplanev which,v

has been k'indicated 'in dotfa'nd dash line' at32.l It is to be understood that `any suitabletyp. 4i roof 'may besupportedibyumy roof supporting;

for this reason Ivihavemerely indicated a roof: diagrammaticauy Fig;- J11r Where' Ait nas I bee designated (sa. 1 s houii -like twpomtout, hw ever, that it' is prees-came o3-apply me roof tof;-

' operation of my equipment isounne'zcles*saryv as'tlie same has been very fully illus o completely v collapsed o'jready ",forftransport @on/af Vehicle such as'a ,trailerg When the vehicle 'has beenitanspoitedjtg the sitea't whiciitne equipnient 'is "to "be erected,y it Iis merely necessary to" Operate-theackscrews- 111.511 ,have shown; y1th l.equiprin'entf :.b. ,rgi has'benfrasd 511m-, eikentiy, saines-the pineal: maybe' piace position'vand 4further"operation:'of 'the jack sore s; 6 willra'i e the towers 2 ytofa morenearly vertical g-y withdt' the. roof suppery membersl In Fig. 4 it will be seen thattlie park are almost' inLcompletelyfraised position-. As .the towers; :2 move -from anhorizontalgor collapsed:

"f positionto'ward thel vertical, the roof 'supporting g'ir'ders carried thereby Awilllbe .rai'seclfhigher fand higheruntil theyf'have assumed.- the .'positioni. s`h`ow`i'1fi'n'- 1".y VAS 'above mentionedwiththe: parts inthis position the'base` of "eachto'werrrests siidng typ, can'beaubwa--toslide' outwardigfby" 'r-f upon fthe-ground so that-the whole structure has` accesos 1 Itfdesired'"the equipment may be transported on railway nat carsV suchfas` illustrated in Fig. 10 wherein 36 designates the flat cars. In the car at thejright of this v"series of three" the equipment is 'shown f' in collapsedA position `and extending lengthwiseot the cars. f

In this connection" it -i's' vdesirable to' equip each ofthe flat cars withja turntable 38 vand when the; cars rhave been brought to the desired site then these turntables are operated to turn each unit' tlirofugh an'angl'e ,of"90 nso` that the units then-lie'crosswise of the cars.l vThey may then be erected as described in' connection with Figsfl to 6, for'instance, disconnected from the turntables 38 and the vcars moved away. As manyunits,r ofcourse, undeth'ese conditions can be erected a's-'there are cars 36. y

I havedescribedmy equipment in connection with the erection foi y'l1a1'i'gais-ffo'r airplanes,A for instance. This is forv the purpose of illustration and clarity of description',l it being'obvious that my construction may be employed for supporting the roof of any building which is to be temporary and which is to be transported from site to site. Of course there is nothing to prevent the structures being left in position permanently but I believe my invention finds its greatest field of use in connection with the erection of temporary structures such, for instance, as airplane hangars and the like.

While the question of dimensions does not enter into this invention particularly, I might mention that in practice my equipment can be transported on trailers 30 feet long and expanded when erected to a width of approximately 120 feet. This would provide adequate size in multiple units to create the framework of an airplane hangar for most planes. Of course, if the equipment is to be transported on railway cars then the possibilities so far as width of expansion are concerned are much greater.

Again reverting to the uses to which my equipment may be put, it is to be Vunderstood that the same is suitable as a framework for barracks, mess rooms, staff headquarters, portable bridges and the like in addition to its use as a structure for supporting the roof of airplane hangars.

It is to be understood that changes may be made in the details of construction and arrangement of parts without departing from the spirit and scope of my invention.

What I claim is:

1. A portable structure comprising a pair of towers and a pair of roof supporting girders pivotally attached thereto by a cantilever and a control lever, whereby as the towers are swung about a fulcrum intermediate their ends from a horizontal to a vertical position the roof supporting girders will be elevated therewith to an intermediate position, where, upon a pivotal connection being made between adjacent ends of the girders, continued movement of the towers to a vertical position will move the girders to viinal elevated position.

2. A portable structure comprising a pair of towers, a pair of roof supporting girders pivotally attached to the towers, and means for actuating each of the towers about a fulcrum intermediate the ends of each tower from a horizontal to a vertical position the roof supporting girders being elevated therewith to an intermediate position, where, upon a pivotal connection being made between adjacent ends of the girders, continued a `-steady {foo Ving f and yis y not merely supported by' movement of the `towers toa 'vertical-position willfmove the girders to final elevated position.

3. A portable structure comprising a-pair of towers fulcrumed intermediate their -ends and sol disposed that when in horizontal position they will overlap eachother,` a roof' supporting girder pivotally attached rto each' of said towers by a cantilever and a control leverpwliereby as said towersare swung about their respective pivots from a' horizontal to a'. vertical position the roof supporting girders will be `elevated therewith to an intermediate position, where, '-upon= a pivotal -connection being made between adjacent ends of the girders, continuedmovement of the towers to :a vertical position will move-the girders to final elevated position. y Y v45A portable structure comprising. a pair of towersv fulcrumed' intermediate their ends'land adapted to be swung vfrom vertical position to horizontal overlapping' position, a roof supporting girder pivotally attached to each tower by a cantilever and a control lever, said -girders with the towers collapsed lying in overlapped relation, whereby as said towers are swung about their respective fulcrums to carry them into vertical position in spaced relation to each other, the said girders will be elevated therewith to an intermediate position, where, upon a pivotal connection being made between adjacent ends of the girders, continued movement of the towers to a vertical position will move the girders to iinal elevated position.

5. A portable structure comprising a pair of towers fulcrumed intermediate their ends, roof supporting girders pivotally connected thereto and to each other, one for each tower, means for pivoting the towers about their respective fulcrums, the connections between the towers and girders being such that when the towers are pivoted about their fulcrums to horizontal position the girders will be lowered into an intermediate position, where, upon removing the pivotal connection between them, continued movement of the towers to a horizontal position will move the girders to a horizontal position.

l 6. A portable structure comprising a pair of towers fulcrumed intermediate their ends, roof supporting girders pivotally connected to each other, one for each tower, a control lever and a cantilever through which the girders are attached to the towers, the connections between the towers and girders being such that when the towers are pivoted about their fulcrums to horizontal position the girders will be lowered into an intermediate position, where, upon removing the pivotal connection between them, continued movement of the towers to a horizontal position will move the girders to a horizontal position.

'7. A portable structure comprising a pair of towers fulcrumed intermediate their ends to a carrier, roof supporting girders pivotally attached to the towers, and actuating means for pivoting the towers about their fulcrums from a horizontal to a vertical position, to unload the towers from the carrier, the roof supporting girders being elevated therewith to an intermediate position, where, upon a pivotal connection being made between adjacent ends of the girders, continued movement of the towers to a vertical position will move the girders to ilnal elevated position.

8. A portable structure comprising a pair of towers fulcrumed intermediate their ends, roof supporting girders pivotally attached thereto, a

vehiclev carrying the; structure, and .actuatingmeanscarriedVbythexvebile forni-voting the @0W- ers aboutgtheir, .fulcrums Irom horizontal tover-` tical positionlwith thefoot of each tower resting upon the ground-,the girdersbeing elevated .tl'iere--t4 withto an intermediate position,where, upon a pivotal connection 4being `made between adjacent ends of the grdervcontinuedmovement of the towers toa.vertical position will move the girders rto final elevated position-to a horizontal position end/to end at the-,top of the towersd y 9. vA portablestructure comprising awpair oi' lattice towersfulcrumed intermediate their ends,

Y roof supporting girders connectedvthereto by .a4

control lever and a cantilever, means for pivoting said towers about their fulcrums from ,hori-f zontal tomvertical position, said girders being of channel ,section and sodimensioned thatrwhen the towers are horizontally disposed the girders wil1telescope each -otherfaswell as the towers. 10: A portable structure comprising a pair of towers fulcrumed intermediate their ends, roof supporting girdersl pivotally connected to the towers,` extensions for said girders, andmeans for pivoting said towers aboutv their respective f`u1 crums to raise the same from horizontal-toy ver-r tical position thereby to carry the girders therewithto an intermediate position, where, upona pivotal yconnection being made between` adjacent ends oi thegirders, continued movement of the towers to a vertical position will move the girders to final elevated position. l d l 1,1. A portable structure 'comprising va pair of lattice towers fulcrumed intermediate their ends, lattice roof ysupporting girders connected to the towers byra control lever and a cantilever, means telescopedjby thel girders when the towers are .pivotedr to horizontal position.

ARTHUR EBE NHACK.` 

